Nathan Bell
(Tennessee)
Sunday, October 23, 2016
At the home of Joe and Bev Angel
Doors open: 2:30 PM, Concert begins: 3:00PM
Folk/Roots artist Nathan Bell is known for his straightforward yet poetic lyrics, supported by masterful guitar playing. The son of a poet and professor, he has a keen eye for detail, and an unapologetic penchant for the political, populist humanism of his literary heroes John Steinbeck, Jack London, and Studs Terkel. His music comes from a place of exhaustion, chronicling the endless grind of all shades of the working person in America, from mine workers to middle managers. Acoustic Guitar Magazine described his voice as “rustic, coupling the grain of Levon Helm with the gruff troubadour lilt of Kris Kristofferson.” Nathan learned to play guitar by listening to blues greats Lightnin’ Hopkins, Sonny Terry, and Brownie McGee. His playing has been described as, “encompassing delicate rhythms, mountain drones, and surging melodic fills. His finger-picking marries thumb blues to his guitar’s mimicry of frailing banjo…” Nathan has shared bills with legends like Townes Van Zandt, Emmylou Harris, Taj Mahal, and Norman Blake.
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~Presents~
Few singer-songwriters are willing to tell the unvarnished truth in stories about real people that resonate for real people. Tennessee-based Nathan Bell is one of them.—Mark Kemp, Acoustic Guitar Magazine
Rodney Crowell said that Americana Music is based in poetry. Nathan Bell was Americana before it had a name.—Denise Williams, Hillbilly Haiku House Concerts
...his voice resonates like a cross between Merle Haggard and Ralph Stanley.....It is a voice that commands attention.—Family Reunion Country
...his songs are a mix of intriguing introspection and insightful observation of those around him, their heartaches, confusion, and desires....and then there are the songs whose reality is so palpable that they must be autobiographical, though one never knows with such a skillful storyteller as Bell.—Donna Mavity, No Depression
...he writes seriously deep songs...one of the few artists I’d feel confident in mentioning in comparison to Nathan Bell would be James McMurtry.—Songs: Illinois
His is an exquisitely stripped-down true rootsy folk music void of any distractions from heart and soul.... the entirety of the repertoire is so personal, so intimate, so grassroots philosophical in transcendently ordinary consciousness.—Mark S. Tucker, Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange